Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Vlastimil Valek styles on his CZ over a GaUdorf jump on the way to placing second to Julien DeRoover in the 45 and Over class. Heikki Mikkola chased DeCoster in the first moto. then led the final . heat until making a mistake on the last lap that cost him the win. The 45 and Over class heads for the second turn. many of the riders aboard older vintage machinery. modern rider may have T-boned his rival, but these guys are gentlemen who respect the rules of racing. That's the way it was in their time, and it wasn't just a matter of cautious maturity since the riders agreed that, "Once you are out there on the track all those promises to your loved ones lO take it easy are forgotten. You just turn off your brain like before. Motocross stays in your blood." In molO two Mikkola jumped out in the lead over DeCoster and for a long time it looked as if that's the way they would finish. But an overzealous Mikkola made a big mistake on the final lap and DeCoster went through lO win the race and overall for the second year in a row. Mikkola finished second for second overall, and Uno Palm combined 4-4 scores lor third. Gil DeRoover was fourth overall on a KTM 500, and Moiseev edged Anderson for fifth overall. The races for the older riders also provided close competition between two CZ-mounted riders. julien DeRoover always had the upper hand aboard his mid-seventies model on older Vlastimil Valek who was mounted on a more recent model. Valek, from Czechoslovakia, won Edison Dye's Inter-AMA in the U.S. in the early seventies and was considered one of the most dramatic stylists of h is era. Valek was reaII y flying, arms outstretched, off the finish line jump at Gaildorf. The battles just out of contact with the leaders were between the spon's World Champions of 1965; 250cc champ Victor Arbekov of Russia and 500cc title holder jeff Smith, an Englishman now living in the United States. KTM-mounted Arbekov won the battle in the first molO, but in molO two Smith got a better start that enabled him to catch and pass Arbekov at half distance to secure third overall. Smith borrowed an ATK from the Dutch importer this year after riding a 250cc BSA Barracuda in last year's event. "That (last year) was just like the '60s," Smith said. "I spent most of the weekend working on the bike, just like we had to then, and one of the main reasons for coming here is lO meet old friends once a year and revive memories of the good times we had." And nobody takes the social side of the weekend more seriously than the Czechs, most of whom are well over the minimum age for qualification. European motocross events DeCoster (left) poses with 69-year-old Camille Fruythof. the oldest competitor in the Veteran-cross event. traditionally have a beer tent and Gaildorf was no exception. But that was not enough for the Czechs, who . brought their own barrels of Budweiser (the real SlUff, not the U.S. product) with that great character Victor Lahita, mechanic in the '60s for both Dave Bickers and joel Robert, pulling beer aIter beer with his stirrup pump. Even on the track Lahita added to the show by making pit SlOps for alcoholic refreshment. After crossins the line his buddy josef Hradek Insisted to event organizer johnny Strijbos that he needed some of the same before he could pilot his 300 lb. pI us Eso back to the riders park. Bickers, 1960 and '61 250cc European Champion (before it was considered a World Championship) now specializing in TV commercial stun.t work, brought along a '64 twin-port CZ and ended the day in fifth, the best performance for a rider aboard a genuine old bike. Former Matchless and CZ works rider Chris Horsfield was in contention for the honor on a borrowed '68 factory BSA with titanium bolts, electron casings arid Rickman hubs until he hit problems in moLO two that left him nimh in the final standings. Ove Lundell firtished sixth in the first moto aboard the Hallman and Eneqvist Yamaha four-stroke that won a G P molO in the hands of Bengt Aberg as late as 1977, but gearbox problems forced him out of moto two and left him tenth overall. ostalgia was rife on this day with old stars getting together to race old bikes. One rider who asked lO be remembered by his American friends was Werner Schutz. Schuu rode a complete season promoting Maicos in the States in 1971, registering 24 wins and six seconds in 36 races on the National circuit. He now has his own shop in Neunkirchen and sponsors South African rider Colin Dugmore. • Results 35+/MODfRN MOTORCYCLES: 1. Roger DeCoster IBel); 2. Heiklti Mikkola IFin); 3. Uno Palm (Swe); 4. Gil DeRoover IBel); 5. Guenady Moi_v (USSR): 6. Haken Anderson ISwe); 7. Sig; Lerner (Aus); B. Emiel Luytens (Bel); 9. Vic Allen (Scot); 10. Werner Schutz (Gerl. 45+NARIOUS MODELS: 1. Julien DeRoover IBeI); 2. Vlastimil Valek ICze); 3. Jeff Smith IEng); 4. Vietor Arbekov (USSR); 5. Dave Bickers IEng); 6. Karl Sommerbauer (Aus); 7. .Josef Chara (Cze); B. Gerhard Dreisilker IGer); 9. Chris Horsfield IEng): 10. Ove LundeIlISwe). 13

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